I took off for Iowa Sunday morning from MN. I hunt NC and NW Iowa, often on the same day as I move around. Anywhere from just west of 35 all the way to Okoboji. I got to my first spot at 8:30 and there were trucks parked on both sides(this didn't bother me as I kinda figured that might be the case). I saw two hunters walking the cover and noticed a rooster that flushed low and away to private ground. The hunters were probably 400 yards away! I doubt they ever saw him. It reminds me of articles that talk about smart birds using escape cover, he definitely got out of Dodge real quick. I decided to hunt ditches in the area as the dog needed to run a little and go potty. No bird contacts. I did notice as I was leaving 45 minutes later the 1st truck had left and a different one had taken its place. I only heard one shot that morning. I moved to a good sized piece and decided to hunt because no one was there. I don't really like this spot but I always hunt it anyways(do you have any spots like that?). We walked a good bit here and only saw two hens. My wheels were starting to spin as I thought, "this might be a long day with zero opportunities." It was getting warm so we took a break and I drove to my next spot, when low and behold I saw a rooster running down the ditch on the edge of the brome grass! Here was my chance. I drove past him a good ways, parked the truck and got ready. Working into the wind the dog flushed a hen on the edge of the ditch/field. Then she got on a hot scent and started straight lining it down the ditch. I ran as fast as I could and she flushed that bird and I missed him
. I wonder if the gun club will set up a scenario where you sprint and then a clay is launched at 30 yards and you try and stop and shoot? This might help me in the future
. I was running out of ideas, and I knew I could hunt ditches all day, but I'm more of a ditch opportunist, I like to hunt good looking ones when I see them but mostly hunt wma/wpa ground. There was a spot I had been dreaming of. I knew if I went there it'd be the last spot of the day. I decided to go all in. It took a lot of walking and was a bear to get to(that's all I'm gonna say!). When we got in, Skye hit scent immediately, and I mean a hot scent! She took off at fast clip, juking and jiving back and forth, with an intensity that told me this was the real deal. She soon put up a rooster that I promptly missed twice, then cracked the gun to unload and another rooster flushed of course
. She was so excited after that, I took her a short ways to the line and we took a quick break. We had found an untouched pheasant sanctuary!! As soon as we continued she hit scent again, working furiously, this time it was one flush, one shot, one retrieve, boy was I relieved to hold up my end
. In the game bag and away we went. She was on scent continuously, next flushing hen after hen after hen. We also saw a whopper buck jump out of the grass over the fence, and then he just stared at us for a long time, always neat to see. We got around a cattail patch and the dog went wild, crashing in and out and up flushed a really nice rooster, I got him with one shot and Skye brought him back. I think at this point with all the shooting and rustling around the roosters were a little more on guard. The dog was birdy more often than not, but the birds started running and/or flushing wild. I never got another shot, but was really happy to have gotten two on public ground at this point in the season as most everything has been pounded hard. Where I seen all the birds, I'm not sure if it had been hunted yet this year, at the very least it probably hadn't been hunted in a week or so, because the difference in birds was a night and day difference to everywhere else I'd hunted. Good luck everyone, I'm not sure when I'll be back to hawkeye land, but I'm sure I'll give another try or two this year.
